"You’re The Top" Tuna Salad
Dave is a fan of my homemade mayo, but he confessed a few days ago that since his Whole30, the idea of tuna salad left him cold.
“I miss the sweet pickle relish,” he said, oh-so-sadly.
Which got me thinking: is there a healthy way to make tuna salad with a touch of sweetness and crunch?
And then I remembered the Waldorf salad.
Between you and me, I’ve always thought Waldorf salad – made of apples, celery, and walnuts in mayo, served on a bed of lettuce – sounded really yucky. It seemed that the salad was confused about whether it wanted to be sweet or savory.
The concoction was created at the Waldorf Hotel (later to be the Waldorf-Astoria) in New York in the 1890s, and it appeared in a cookbook in 1928. The salad was so popular, it was featured in Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top” from the musical Anything Goes.
You’re the top!
You’re a Waldorf salad.
You’re the top!
You’re a Berlin ballad.
You’re the boats that glide
On the sleepy Zuider Zee,
You’re an old Dutch master,
You’re Lady Astor,
You’re broccoli!
I skipped the celery – ’cause I don’t like it – and added scallions and spicy mustard for extra zing. I also changed up the nuts. Dave likes cashews; I like pecans. Ta-da! “You’re the Top” Tuna Salad.
“You’re the Top” Tuna Salad
This makes enough for two hungry people.
Ingredients:
2 cans tuna (I prefer it packed in olive oil.)
1 small apple, diced
a few scallions, green tops only, sliced thin
1 oz. pecans, walnuts, or cashews, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon mustard
2-3 tablespoons homemade mayo
salt & pepper to taste
NOTE: If you like celery, a sliced stalk would not be a bad addition.
Directions:
1. Place apples, scallion tops, nuts, and celery (if using) in a medium-sized bowl. Mix well.
2. Drain liquid from tuna and add tuna to the boil. Mash with a fork to break up tuna and blend ingredients.
3. Add mustard and mayo, then mix with a rubber spatula until well-blended. If you can stand it, let the tuna salad sit for 15 minutes so the flavors can meld. While the tuna ingredients are getting to know each other, cut up some raw vegetables to eat alongside… This is also yummy served with butter lettuce leaves to make hand-wraps, or stuffed into the halves of a raw red pepper.
NOTE: To balance the creaminess with a tiny tangy bite, add 1 teaspoon of vinegar along with the mayo in step 3.
Tags: American, dino-chow, paleo, tuna
44 Responses to “"You’re The Top" Tuna Salad”
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I make home-made chicken and tuna salad a lot. I like to add grapes to my chicken salad for the sweetness and apples to my tuna salad! Yummy! Haven't tried adding scallions yet but definitely will. Thanks!
This looks yummy! I thought the idea of mayo and apples were gross until I tried it a few years ago, for the same reasons you stated. I use the combo in chicken salad a lot, but I never thought about tuna. I'm fortunate to live close enough to the pacific coast where we can get tuna from the boat. Then we take it home and can it ourselves and now I'm spoiled. It's hard to eat tuna from the grocery store now. It's even good straight from the jar
But I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some tuna salad and I can't wait to try yours.
Yum! I love tuna these days…this looks delicious. I also appreciate the Cole Porter reference…I was once in a Cole Porter Revue at this really intense theatre camp…your lyrics bring back geeky memories.
Oooh this looks amazing. And I pretty much love your mayo. It's bordering on obsession.
I added capers, some Sarracha (sp), and chopped bell pepper! Super yummy, thanks for saving my paleo booty tonight!
This looks super yummy! What brand of olive oil do you use to make your mayo? Everytime I try to make my own mayo it just doesn't taste very good and I suspect my brand of olive oil may be the issue.
I'm so glad y'all are excited about this recipe. I made a batch of mayo at, like, 9:30 last night, just so I could make tuna salad today. YUMMY!
Girl + Puppy –> Love the mods!
Ami Marie –> I use my grocery store brand of "light tasting" olive oil. You can't use extra-virgin… my recommendation is to buy the cheap0 kind and look for a label that says "light tasting" or "light flavor" — that means it won't taste too olive-y. If you can't make it work with olive oil, you can use a nut oil instead but they can be expensive.
I would suggest raisins for sweetness.
I also like sweet relish but find raisins and finely chopped apples to be a suitable replacement.
Thanks for the speedy reply! I'll pick up some cheap0 olive oil this weekend and give it another shot!
I think I've become addicted to the homemade mayo. I don't know if it's just because "I made it" or because I know it's "clean" or because it tastes so yummy!
So, I'm curious. Did he like the tuna salad with the apple??
Looks delicious. I had a friend who used to make one like this, but also added shredded carrots and caraway seed sometimes.
Marcus –> I agree: raisins are yummy, but I have a tendency to overeat them, so I usually stick with fresh fruit, rather than dried, because it's less like candy
But now you've got me thinking: curry powder, raisins, nuts… that's a tasty combo.
For the longest time growing up I thought the only way you made tuna fish salad was with apple in it; as that was the way my Nany (Grama) made it. This was up
until I was over at a friends house and his mother made it with put it. I was like sorry you forgot to put apple in it or are you out if so I can get a couple from my house. And that's how I found out not everyone put apple in their tuna fish sanwiches.
Now I need to make some of my own.
Josh
Also in stead of tuna fish try it with baked salmon or other baked fish if you don't liked caned tuna.
Oh, good stuff.
Josh.
Josh –> That's awesome: "You forgot the apples."
My mom always put apples in tuna salad. It's a definite improvement!
Where I miss the sweet pickle relish is, believe it or not, in deviled eggs.
I like them without it (spicy mustard to the rescue), but I'd like them better with it!
After all the praise for your mayo, how could I NOT want to try it?!?! That's on the list for this weekend.
What is the white accompanying veggie on the plate in your photo? Jicama? If so, do you cook it? I've been wanting to try it lately.
Yes, it is jicama — and it's SO yummo!
I eat it raw in sticks or grated in salads. It can be tricky to prep. Here's what I do:
Wash the jicama.
Cut it in half through the roots (like you would an onion).
Peel it. (This step is annoying!)
Cut into 1/2 inch slices, then cut those slices into matchsticks.
EAT!
Thanks for the recipe, I am taking this to work for my lunch. I work in a cafe by the way, so having something delicious to eat while my co-workers are eating the typical Ecuadorian meal of Rice with potatoes, with less than a 1/4 cup of meat will be important.
Becka –> Being around other food all day must be kinda tough. Hang in, sister!
[...] I’ll make our favorite Tuna for lunches (and a fresh batch of yummy mayo). – We’ll also have salad. Our new favorite [...]
just made this and the paleo mayo! Patience is the key. The tuna salad looks totally yummy – I’m letting it chill for a bit before I dig in but the sample I snuck was sooooo good. Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve been working on a series of different tuna salad seasonings because it’s so easy and so healthy… love to take it to work with raw veggies. Hope you like this one!
What a great recipe! Had it tonight for dinner over some baby greens. I made it with your homemade mayo, which turned out wonderful too. Didn’t have light oil on hand so EVOO had to do. The flavor is a quite strong on olive oil, but as part of a dressing the flavor melds with other ingredients and vanishes. Thanks!
I thought I was the only one who used apples in tuna salad! I started using them a year ago, to add crunch (replacing onions, which ten to overpower). Works beautifully, either with homemade mayo or a lemon and oil dressing, and with lots of lemon juice in and fresh herbs like Italian parsley or cilantro. Fennel and cucumber also work really well, together or alone, and some finely diced jalapeno. Yum!
Thanks for the posting your great recipes.
Oooh, fennel sounds like a great idea! And I love to put my tuna salad ON cucumber rounds, but I don’t like the cucumber IN the salad. Weird,right?!
OMG! I just made this and it is unbelievable
At first I was scared to add the mustard because I have never experienced mustard on tuna so I just used half the amount and it was fabulous.
Also, I can’t thank you enough for the mayo recipe. I made it and it came out beautifully. I am starting my Whole30 today and was so dismayed to find that all commercially prepared mayo, even at Whole Foods, contains SOY OIL
Even the stuff that says “made with olive oil” contains all kinds of other crappy ingredients. This recipe is sublime 
I’m glad you tried it and that you were happily surprised. That’s my favorite thing about trying new recipes… when that first bite is, like, “Hell, yeah!”
Congrats on making mayo! It opens up a whole new world of creamy food possibilities. Enjoy!
[...] up your tuna salad. One of my go-to lunch recipes is a fresh, homemade Tuna Waldorf Salad, created by my friend Melissa. Her original recipe calls for a diced apple (a Granny Smith is a [...]
[...] Tuna Salad and Carrot [...]
I’m allergic to tree nut & peanuts. What would be a good substitution?
We’re trying to eat a healthier diet so your blog looks like just what I’ve been looking for. Thanks
Hey, Peggy! The flavor won’t suffer at all without the nuts. Just leave them out, and you’ll be good to go. I make this without nuts all the time.
Sooo yummy! Yet again a hit from you with your mayo recipe LOVED IT!!! Thank you!!
[...] in all, it tasted pretty close to this recipe, also from The Clothes Make the Girl, but I couldn’t “test” that recipe, [...]
love your recipes so far, but i hesitate to buy your cookbook cause you don’t show nutritional info. how come?
That’s a great questions, Sandie! I went back and forth in my thinking while writing the cookbook and ultimately decided not to include nutrition info for two reasons:
1. Well Fed isn’t a “diet” cookbook. It’s a collection of recipes that follow the paleo framework, and it’s a great way to lose and manage weight, but it’s not a diet book.
2. I really wanted to honor the paleo philosophy that moves away from weighing, measuring, and food logging toward “eating until satisfaction.”
As a lifelong dieter and food logger, it was a tricky decision to make, but I wanted Well Fed to accurately represent my thinking right now.
Having said all that, the recipes include suggestions regarding the number of servings for each recipe, and you can always plug the ingredients into this tool to get the nutrition info:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
I hope you’ll give Well Fed a try!
Hi, I’m five days into this program and I’m learning alot reading your blog.
I want to try this but haven’t bought tuna for years. Do you have a favorite brand? How about cans vs pouches?
Also, I hoping to have the courage to make the mayo tomorrow.
Thanks.
Happy Day!
Congratulations on five days of eating awesome food!
I really like Genova Tonno packed in olive oil. I get it at my local, regular ol’ grocery store. Here’s an Amazon link so you can see the packaging: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006FLWY2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=roltheboo-20
I prefer tuna packed in olive oil to tuna packed in water — and make sure you read the label because sometimes they sneak soy into the can.
Wow, thank you so much for the quick response with the link. I do much better with photos! I’ve have to see if my store carries it.
Can I be so bold to ask a few more questions since Im making myself dizzy working on a shopping list for tomorrow?
(I’m on a very limited budget, so it’s a little hard to figure this all out)
My balsamic –
http://www.monarifederzoni.it/eng/scheda_prodotto.asp?id=000031
Is this OK? I’ve had it in the cabinet and wanted to use it for dressings. It shows 3grams of sugar, but no sugar in the ingredients.
For your mayo, you stress room temp – then say to leave it in the blender for another 30 minutes?
Thanks again!
The biggest no-no in balsamic vinegar is sulfites. You want a brand that does not contain sulfites — other than that, you’re good to go — although organic is preferable over conventional, if you can swing the cost.
I usually put my lemon juice and egg in the blender for 30 minutes before making the mayo.
I use StarKist Selects solid light tuna in Extra Virgin Olive oil. The price difference is $1.29 per can for these in comparison to. 99 a can for regular StarKist. Oh and for the mayo its just 30 minute minimum but I usually leave mine out for at least an hour and so far all of ny batches have been great! Good luck, the first grocery trip is the worst and after that you kinda figure it out!
This is an awesome recipe. What vinegar do you use or does it matter?
You can use whatever vinegar you like. Cider and white wine vinegars are a little sweeter… I have a pomegranate red wine vinegar that’s really good…
What do you put your tuna salad on i’m so used to eating it with crackers what do you use?
If I’m feeling “salad-y,” I put it on a plate and surround it with sliced cucumbers, red pepper strips, carrot sticks, and snap peas.
If I’m feeling “sandwich-y,” I cut a bell a pepper in half, and stuff the tuna into the halves so I can eat it like a sandwich. Always with a few dill pickles on the side.
If I’m feeling like having a mini party, I cut a cucumber in half, scape out the seeds, and put the tuna in the wells to make tuna boats.
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Thank you for this recipe. I made 1/2 of it for my lunch–and 1/2 of it is still left for tomorrow. I served it on a mountain of spinach. What a great little ditty of crunch and brightness on a wintery autumn day!
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Mel,
I just wanted to say you are one of my heros! I just got your Well Fed cookbook a few weeks ago and I have really enjoyed all of the recipes I’ve made from it so far. I’m a “dino-chow” newbie and it has been overwhelming, but your advice, wisdom and suggestions on how to prepare in advance for the week have really helped me out tremendously. I enjoyed reading your adorable tales about you and your family.
Just got done making this tuna salad and it’s perfect! I threw in a chopped hard-boiled egg as well, simply because my father always put that in his tuna salad and its what I grew up with to enjoy in my tuna salads.
I look forward to trying the Tex Mex version next!
Thanks for all you do!
You’re so nice to let me know you’re enjoying Well Fed — I’m so glad it’s helping you make the switch to dino-chow!
Hope you like the Tex-Mex, too!